Review by Choice Review
This worthy addition to gender relations literature allows Manley (history, Xavier Univ. of Louisiana) to elaborate on her premise of the utility of female participatory experiences in authoritarian regimes as a vehicle for feminist progress, using the Dominican regimes of Rafael Trujillo and Joaquín Balaguer as settings. The country's modernization challenges and geopolitical placement(s) compelled the aforementioned rulers to use women in their gendered positions to, among other things, expand the scope of the nation's development; forge a normative acceptance of authoritarian rule by using women as delivery agents for large portions of this development; and legitimize (in terms palatable to the US and other Western powers) their respective governments. Manley provides ample evidence that these female participants only tangentially agreed with their governments' policies and goals, and instead used their experiences to expand both women's rights and democratic principles. Manley also explores the variance between North American and Latin American feminism, the irony of "protected" women's gender roles, the wide spectrum of female allegiances for and against authoritarian rule, the conundrum of male protesters' sexism, the shifting goals of feminist advocacy, and the variations in how women of differing social classes and educational levels viewed Dominican gendered relations in general and authoritarian rule in particular. Well researched. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. --William Javier Nelson, Shaw University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
